Survey of Sexual Assaults Survivors
10. WHAT WOMEN WOULD CHANGE IN HOW THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM HANDLES SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES
Women who decided to report their abuse to the police had certain expectations of the criminal justice system. As previously stated, however, their experiences generally differed from those expectations. For instance:
- women who had hoped to regain a measure of control over their lives realised that control rested with the police and the prosecutor, both of whom decide whether or not the case is “good enough to proceed” and whether or not to drop the charges;
- women who had hoped to voice their experiences and to be heard felt that the courts had not necessarily allowed them to do that, imposing limitations on what they could say;
- women who had wanted the perpetrator to “own” what he did to them noted that they
“didn’t even get a chance to say anything to the rapist”
, to say“you did this to me”
; - women who wanted sentences to reflect the seriousness of sexual abuse thought that abusers received lighter sentences than those convicted of property offences.
Women who have been through the criminal justice process describe it as “cruel”, “cold and uncaring” and “hard on them”. As one woman said: “it doesn’t make anything easier if you go to court”
. According to another, women who decide to report their abuse must be sure that they are “emotionally strong enough to go to court and face the accusation of their perpetrator and sometimes the public”
.
One respondent argued that: “Most women who do report, do it for the same reasons that I did: to stop the abuser. They don’t want to have to go through the court system to do that.”
As a result, some women said that there should be another way for them to come forward with their stories. One suggested an alternative mechanism that would allow women to document their abuse and to confront their abuser in the presence of a police officer and a social worker (to guarantee their physical and emotional safety).
All of the women who participated in the survey were asked what they would change in how the criminal justice system handles sexual abuse cases. The 99 women who responded to this question provided a total of 296 responses. These are summarised in Figure 10.1.
FIGURE 10.1 - SUGGESTED CHANGES TO THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Six of the women were brief and to the point, arguing that the criminal justice system needs “a complete overhaul” in relation to the way it handles sexual assault. As the women expressed it: “It’s not one thing, it’s the whole thing.”
“It’s a wealthy old boys’ club. It’s not working for women.”
“The criminal justice system should be updated to meet the needs of all, not only men.”
“(It) should stop being a man’s institution and be a people’s place to find justice.”
The rest of the women identified a number of specific areas where they felt that changes to the system could be made. Most of the suggestions concerned how criminal justice system personnel as well as social workers and healthcare professionals could better deal with women as survivors, victims and/or witnesses in sexual assault cases.
- They felt that those working with sexual assault survivors - both in and out of the criminal justice system - need to be more sensitive to survivors’ realities and needs. As one woman said:
“I wish they could know how it feels (to be sexually assaulted)… They need to understand the real experiences.”
-
Women emphasised the need to stop blaming the victim. In two of the women’s terms:
“We are made to feel responsible for the perpetrator’s behaviour and then blamed for the sexual assault happening to us.”
“Women don’t ask to be raped. They should not be treated as though they were wrong… They were the ones who were wronged.”
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